Criminal Group Stealing Icons in Four Regions of Ukraine Arrested

Ternopil police jointly with their colleagues from the Kyiv, Vinnytsia and Zhytomyr regions arrested a criminal group of residents of Kyiv, Odesa and Moldova, who stole ancient icons from the churches of Ukraine. So reported at a press conference on 4 January the head of the Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Ternopil Region, Fedir Bortniak. 80 icons have been confiscated from the group. The icons were stolen from churches in Ternopil, Rivne, Khmelnytsk and Vinnytsia regions, reported our RISU correspondent in Ternopil.

56 other icons were found during the searches of the criminals’ homes and workshop.

According to the Ternopil police colonel, Valerii Zahorodnii, the investigation has started in 2006. The criminals took pictures of the icons and sent the photos to the buyers. Then, they buried them in the forest. Therefore, many of the icons are damaged.